January 31, 2006

Exit 126 on the I-80 freeway is only about twenty minutes away from Park City.

There, you will find the quaint neighborhood of Sugarhouse and a couple of hotels guaranteed to be MUCH cheaper than the condos in Park City. The reason Mike and I are able to visit Park City so often is because we live in Sugarhouse, just a few miles from the greatest snow on earth.

If you prefer the consistency of a nationwide chain, you can stay at Homestead Studio Suites. It is close to the freeway entrance, so all you need to do is jump in your rental car and drive less than your daily commute to The Sundance Film Festival. The rooms include a kitchen and wireless high-speed Internet access.

If you prefer the more homey atmosphere of a locally run inn, then Sugarhouse Village Suite Inn would probably be your choice. Across the street from Sugarhouse Park, it is also just a street away from I-80, so the commute is minimal. These units also have kitchens.

Sugarhouse has a lot of offer the Sundance Film Festival attendee for a much more reasonable price. There is the Sundance Catalog Outlet Store right next to Wild Oats. Additionally, there are a few venues in the Salt Lake area, so Sugarhouse is the happy medium between Salt Lake and Park City. Staying in Sugarhouse might be so inexpensive that you can stay a couple of extra days and enjoy the ski resorts without the crowds.

January 30, 2006

I love to sit outside in the summer at Butcher’s Chop House. It’s usually a little chilly in the evenings, even in the summer, but the propane heaters and the French Onion Soup keep me warm. They even let you bring your dog if he’s well-behaved (ours is not). From the patio, you can watch the hikers and mountain bikers ride the Town Lift up the mountain. It’s a relaxing activity after a hard day riding.

If you come to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival, however, the patio area will be covered in a thick blanket of snow. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was to see my usual table under that snow. It looked like cream-cheese frosting on my chair.

The food of course, is just as excellent in the winter as it is in the summer and the delicious scent of meat emanates from the doors. I usually make a meal of appetizers, so I can’t say that I’ve actually had any of their entrees there. The prices are extremely reasonable and the portions are large. You can see their website and menu here:

January 27, 2006

After paying for expensive food everywhere from San Francisco to downtown Salt Lake, I’m always amazed when really good food is so affordable. It’s one of the reasons I love Cisero’s Ristorante in Park City. It’s an Italian restaurant with the cannoli in Utah. You have to leave the state to get a better cannoli. Of course the creamy marscarpone and flaky pastry is for dessert. I would love to always just skip to dessert, but sometimes after a long day working your body in the outdoors, you need “real” food. I always order the Capellini Pomodoro. It’s my favorite and the serving is so generous that I could easily share it with another person and still feel full.

Most of the time, if Mike and I take a trip up to Park City, it’s because we want to eat at Cisero’s. There have been quiet off-season nights when we were the only ones in the place and enjoyed ourselves in privacy. Winter escapades at Cisero’s tend to be loud and noisy evenings filled with happy skiiers and excited vacationers. I love to go there both times of the year because it’s always a good time for a cannoli.

January 26, 2006

If you type the phrase “Park City Moose” into Google, you’ll get tons of results for the Hungry Moose Pub & Grill. I’ve never eaten there and this is not what I’m going to talk about, but I found it amusing that there is hardly anything on the web about this.

A few years ago, Park City had a Moose on the Loose art show that was similar to the Cow Parade that was so popular in New York City. What you see here are the remnants of this art show. They are spread out all over the city now and would be confusing to a visitor who hadn’t known about the show.

January 25, 2006

If you are cold, walking on Main Street in Park City, the best way to warm up is with a hot tea from Alpine Internet Cafe. The staff was quick to help us and we felt welcome there. I had several teas to choose from and Mike ordered the Malted Milkball. He said it tasted like a melted Whopper you could drink and I was a little jealous.

The sign said that the bathrooms are for patrons only. Last summer, when Mike and I were riding our mountain bikes around town, that sign bugged me. We had come in there to buy cold water after our trek, but the sign made me feel a little guilty for wishing there was a bathroom. I held it until I got back to my hotel. This time when I saw the sign, I didn’t care. My feet were cold and I wanted to warm them up before we continued walking up Main Street. I was just grateful to be able to wait for the staff to make my tea.

Compared to Hawaii, the prices for computer access didn’t seem outrageous, but compared to a couple miles west in Salt Lake, they made me cringe. If you know you’re going to need a lot of time on the computer, then you might want to take a drive to any Barnes and Noble in Salt Lake City, because you’ll pay less there.

There were lines of computers waiting for us to check our email. Since I can check my email on my phone, I didn’t really try out their computers, but it felt enticing to see so many warm computers with people at them. There were also couches and tables filled with people on their laptops. It was a great way to glean the computer dudes from the ski bunnies. They both were wearing ski boots, but the computer dudes were warm in the Alpine Internet Cafe.

January 24, 2006

The Sundance Film Festival attracts the big stars now, but in the early days it was a smaller film festival with very little press coverage.

It was more like the Slamdance Film Festival, which runs concurrently with Sundance in both Park City and Salt Lake City. It was founded by four men who had their films rejected by the Sundance Film Festival so long ago. They started their own festival in 1995 and now they have grown to receiving over 2000 submissions this year.

January 23, 2006

The busy thoroughfare in Park City, where the Sundance Film Festival is right now, is Main Street. It’s noisy and full of excited people. If you step one street down to Park Avenue, you’ll find some peace and Good Karma.

They specialize in Indian curries and the food is delicious. Mike and I ate there last August, so there were tables set up in the open area in the back. We sat with the birds and squirrels while we ate. They were happy to eat a little of our Naan. We ate leisurely in the warm sunshine. During the winter, things are a little more cramped. I would recommend ordering your food to go and enjoying it in your hotel room or by the Town Lift.

If you are in the mood for excellent food with a spicy twist, go to Good Karma on Park Avenue when you’re visiting Park City. It’s a quiet escape from the busy noise on Main Street.

January 20, 2006

The snow is crunching noisily under my feet. I’m not wearing the appropriate clothing. I have no long underwear under my jeans. I am wearing four inch heels instead of boots. I forgot to wear a hat or earmuffs to keep my ears from turning red and popping off my head. Miraculously, I remembered gloves. I’m cold, but I’m smiling and happy.

I am walking up Park Avenue because we parked at the Library. The Park City library is one of the venues for the Sundance Film Festival, so I wanted to get a picture of it, but I also wanted to avoid the crowds and traffic on Main Street. Once the festival starts, the library parking will be as bad as every other day, but last Monday, we were safe to park there.

I’m shocked to see skiers. I don’t know why this shocks me, but Park City has always been a summer town for me. Mike and I go up there to ride our mountain bikes. There are active people around, but mostly, we have the place to ourselves. It’s so different in the winter. It’s packed with people in ski boots and goggles. I want to take their picture. I want to point at them and whisper to Mike, “Look, Mike, there are some more skiers.”

My personal resort is suddenly full of ski bunnies and snowboarders. I keep telling myself that Park City is a ski town. Those lifts that take me and my mountain bike up the hill were built for skiers, silly. Still, everything looks a little strange to me. I feel like I’ve been dropped into a completely different town.

We cross over to Main Street and the area explodes in great smelling food. I can smell coffee and cream and fish and beef and something being grilled over fire. My nose is tested trying to discern the different scents surrounding me. I want to eat, even though I’m not hungry. All the aromas surrounding me are tempting. I settle for some hot tea and we continue our walk up Main Street.

It’s the same walk we have taken dozens of times during the summer, but it’s different. There are excited people everywhere. The shop owners are on their best behavior. The condo sellers are so busy that they don’t have time to stand outside the door beckoning us to come in. Everything is covered in a thin veil of snow that obscures signs and makes the entire street look softer.

On the walk back to the car, we take Park Avenue instead of covering Main Street again. We pass the Washington School Inn and reminisce about the last time we stayed there in August. It looks so different with the icicles hanging off the roof. The view out the window of our room would be so different today than it was in August. I wonder what the hot tub feels like after a cold day skiing. It felt wonderful after the long hours on the bike.

We pass the residential homes and see one for rent. “$1400 a month 2 bed 1 bath,” the sign reads. After looking at housing costs in San Diego, the price seems like a steal. The idea of living with this much snow and with the Sundance revelers seemed a little too much for me. I prefer the quiet solitude of my home in the valley and I gladly walk past the quaint home for rent.

By the time we get back to our car, my ears are bright red. I turn the heat on full blast and enjoy the dry warmth. Just taking a walk along the streets of Park City is fun. No money required.

January 18, 2006

Park City is filled with upscale clothing stores, ski equipment shops and galleries. If you go to the outskirts of the city, however, you’ll find the Tanger Outlet Mall. It seems that every major metropolitan area has outlet shopping, this is the one for the Greater Salt Lake Area.

These factory stores, however have the Park City feel to them. The design of the buildings conforms with the codes of the city, so it feels a little more rustic than a generic outlet mall plopped onto the landscape. It seems to fit in with the atmosphere. It sports its own Park City Moose, complete with shopping bags and colorful regalia.

When To Shop: Avoid “Back To School” time and Christmas if you dislike crowds. It does get a little busier in the winter and during the Sundance Film Festival, but not as bad as right before the school year starts. They are open Monday – Saturday 10:00 am to 9:00 pm and Sunday 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.